Winter fuel allowance changes branded a ‘punishment beating’ against pensioners

Shadow work and pensions secretary Mel Stride told a rowdy Commons chamber that the Labour Party is prioritising public sector pay rises “on the backs of vulnerable pensioners”.

The Government has insisted the proposed changes are necessary in order to fill a “£22 billion black hole” in the public finances, which they say was left behind by their Tory predecessors.

Father of the House Sir Edward Leigh branded Labour’s claims about the previous government’s financial decisions “absolute and complete rubbish”.

A Tory motion aimed at blocking the policy was rejected by MPs on Tuesday, with a majority of 120, but some Labour backbenchers had said they felt unable to back the cut, which will see millions of pensioners lose the payment.

Prior to the vote, Mr Stride made an “impassioned plea” to those sitting on the Labour benches to “look to your conscience”, adding: “You know in your heart that these measures are wrong.”

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall accused the Conservatives of “faux outrage”, as she urged MPs to work with the Government and their local councils to make sure pensioners get the money they are entitled to through pension credit.

On Tuesday, Mr Stride said: “Labour candidates up and down the country gleefully pointed to their manifesto as having no mention of doing anything on this particular matter.

“But look within a matter of a few short weeks, what has happened? What happened to integrity? What happened to transparency? It went out of the window.

“Broken promises already, that special contract that they sought to have with the British people based on integrity and decency smashed into a million pieces.”

He added: “All politics is about choices, and what this Government has done is it has caved in to its trade union paymasters.

“It has settled way above inflation, junior doctors 22%, train drivers 14% and what it has done is it has stood up for the trade union paymasters on the backs of vulnerable pensioners. And that is not right.”

Conservative former minister Sir Edward said there should be a “serious debate” about the total package given to pensioners, noting he has previously questioned aspects of the triple lock.

He told the Commons: “It’s a very difficult debate but I do understand that the total package paid to pensioners as a proportion of gross national product must not keep increasing every year because that is the way ultimately to bankrupt the country, and we need to have a social contract between older people, like myself, and younger people, particularly in terms of housebuilding.”

Sir Edward raised concerns for people who receive a small occupational pension but are not eligible for pension credit, saying they are “looking after every penny” but will suddenly lose the winter fuel payment.

He added: “I tell you what this is all about, this is about a punishment beating.”

Sir Edward described the “so-called £22 billion black hole” as a “mere accounting device”, adding: “What the Labour Government is now trying to do is to make the political point that the Conservative Party ran the country into the ground and therefore we’ve got to punish the pensioners. It’s absolute and complete rubbish.”

In an opposition day debate on winter fuel allowances, which also took place on Tuesday, Mr Stride criticised the Government for not producing an impact assessment.

He said: “We have had no explanation as to why no impact assessments were provided. This is a major policy change which will remove entitlement for up to 10 million pensioners, including many who are already in poverty.”

Former home secretary Dame Priti Patel also called for an impact assessment, as she said the removal of the payments was an “assault” on pensioners and branded Sir Keir Starmer’s Government “cruel and ideological”.

She said: “Who would have thought that one of the first acts of this cruel, ideological Labour Government would be to assault the nation’s pensioners and remove winter fuel payments.

“Let’s be quite candid, we are now seeing the nation’s pensioners fall victim to what is an ideological decision, Labour’s betrayal, while they have literally succumbed to their union paymasters through the gross amount of public spending they are shovelling in the pockets of their payments.”

Conservative backbencher Sir Roger Gale (Herne Bay and Sandwich) said that while he agreed with the idea of means testing of the winter fuel payment, the way it was being introduced was “cruel and heartless”.

He added: “I have no quarrel with the principle, I have huge quarrel in the manner of which it is being done.”